pros & consof bilingual education

PRO

Bilingual education breaks down the biggest barrier to acceptance into a new culture. Often times a person is unable to effectively transition because they are unable to understand the language being spoken.

Contributes to a positive self-concept which allows for the student to learn more effectively

"Researchers have found that students experiencing discriminatory practices soon retreat into a posture of resistance in which they stop working with the school and its agents" (Tozer, 2009, p. 424). This is where bilingual education can allow students to feel like they are accepted and feel like people want to help them.

Allows students to not fall behind their peers in the subject matter they are required to know for their specific grade level

Students are able to learn faster in their native language

Students, who achieve bilingual proficiency, will be able to expand their career opportunities later in life.

Many second-language acquisition experts and others counter that immersion programs have not been proven effective. They believe that bilingual education programs, which provide initial instruction in students' first language, are more successful in helping students acquire English.

Students acquire a second language most easily when they develop literacy skills and content knowledge in their native language, have opportunities to interact with English-speaking peers, and learn with students of different ability levels.

Contrary to the long-standing belief in the American education community, the human brain is not limited to learning only one language. In fact, research shows that the more languages a person learns, the stronger their mental stamina. Teachers and parents of ESL students must encourage children to retain the ability to speak their native language in addition to achieving fluency in English.

Bilingualism has powerful advantages in academic, linguistic, personal, occupational, etc. While many people have to work hard to learn a second language, "the deterioration of a language that one already knows is a shameful waste of a child's potential to be".

CON

Education should positively impact lives, but instead it is being used as means to socially control a population

These programs push the dominant culture while ignoring minorities found in our society. This makes our country ignore the diverse people found in our nation

It is costly to run these programs

Children need to be pulled out of class while they attend the ESL class. This makes the student miss out on material that was covered in their classroom. It also makes these children stand out among their peers in a negative light

Placed into lower level classes

Allows children to avoid learning the dominant culture

Absorbing two languages takes up brainpower and class time that would ordinarily be spent on other subjects. Many parents, whose children do not score well on standardized tests, are fearful that their children are falling behind, so they decide to pull their children out of dual language in elementary school.

The people who supported English-only instruction pointed out that immersion is the best way to learn a new language. They believed that delays in mastering English impedes a student's growth in all other academic subjects.

Roger Clegg (president and general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity) said:"We simply have to be able to communicate with one another, and that means a common language, and that means English".By declaring this, Roger Clegg made it clear that the faster the students master in English, the easier for them to communicate and therefore socialize in the United States.